


The Vault Incident

by Danieladelucia



Category: Law & Order: SVU
Genre: Angst and Hurt/Comfort, Angst with a Happy Ending, Author Is Sleep Deprived, Claustrophobia, Everyone Is Gay, Fluff and Angst, Hurt Rafael Barba, I Will Go Down With This Ship, Idiots in Love, M/M, Misunderstandings, The Author Regrets Nothing, Trapped
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-02-28
Updated: 2021-03-04
Packaged: 2021-03-12 04:55:10
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 3,726
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29754387
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Danieladelucia/pseuds/Danieladelucia
Summary: Do you know what blind dates are right? well that's exactly what it looks like. Blind date, in a vault.Carisi is following a lead and somehow Barba gets involved. The main suspect of a case traps them in a vault. With nothing to do but sit and wait for rescue, Carisi and Barba start talking at last.* 𝗘𝗻𝗴𝗹𝗶𝘀𝗵 𝗶𝘀 𝗻𝗼𝘁 𝗺𝘆 𝗳𝗶𝗿𝘀𝘁 𝗹𝗮𝗻𝗴𝘂𝗮𝗴𝗲 *
Relationships: Rafael Barba & Dominick "Sonny" Carisi Jr., Rafael Barba/Dominick "Sonny" Carisi Jr.
Comments: 8
Kudos: 20





	1. Trapped

"This could go wrong really fast." Barba warned as she walked behind Carisi along the corridor of the basement of the building they had entered.

"You already made your position quiet clear counselor." Carisi glanced over his shoulder to watch Barba's eyes turn white, pupils hidden by his lids.

"I just wanted to say It. One more time. For the record." Beard grins.

"Everything is going to be fine."

They turned into a corridor where the lights dimmed, their eyes fixed in front of them.

"Sure. Why I'm even here?" Barba said, lengthening his stride so as not to be left behind.

Carisi snorted "You asked me for a ride."

"Correct, from the bar back home. I still don't understand how this led to my murder."

"Where did this come from? You're not even hurt." Carisi opened his arms and then let them fall to his sides.

"Not yet." Barba murmured, staring straight ahead.

"None of us will die."

"The main suspect in the case is taking us to the murder weapon. In an underground vault. No signal," Barba whispered as he made sure the man walking a couple of meters in front of them didn't hear him. "We're definitely going to make friends, Carisi. "

"When you put it like this..."

Barba sighed "I knew I should have stayed in the car."

"If only you could take a hint ..."

Barba snapped his head to cast a grim look at the taller man "Did you say something Carisi?"

"No, no."

"I thought so."

They turned into another corridor "We're close." the man in front of them said.

Close to our death, Rafael thought as he tugged on a button on his coat with the fingers of his right hand. He should have stayed in the car. 

"I still think we should go back."

"Barba..."

The hallway with the flickering lights added an ounce of anxiety to the ADA's chest, who was looking around frantically.

They turned one last time and a large armored door was open in front of them, showing them a lighted room.

The man moved to the side and Barba turned to look at him doubtfully, but he didn't have time to think about it long because the detective was already moving to enter the room.

Shoulders stiff with tension, he stepped forward and joined Carisi who was looking around for the weapon that should have been hidden there.

Rafael moved close enough for his waistcoat to touch the sleeve of Carisi's jacket.

"Carisi, something is wrong."

"Just stay calm."

They both heard a hiss behind them.

As the heavy steel door swung shut with a whine, the vault was plunged into darkness. Its echoing slam rang against the walls. There came a grinding scrape, a clunk and a clang as the door was locked and sealed.

Carisi threwed himself towards it, his heart lurching into his throat.

Barba stood still in the position he was in before the door closed and the lights went out.

"Myers!" he roared. He began to hammer blindly at the door with both fists. "Myers, what the hell are you doing !?"

A muffled voice came from the other side. Sonny stopped battering the door so he could hear, straining to pick up sound through the solid steel.

"- apologies, detective. You'll have more than plentiful oxygen for the night. I've checked."

Barba's jaw dropped.

"Open this bloody door!" Carisi shouted, scrabbling for a handle or a release mechanism. "Now, Myers!"

Myers's response through the door grew faint; he was walking away. Most of it was lost. Barba picked up -'Mexico'- and something like -'when you'll come out'- and that was that.

He was gone.

Carisi pounded on the door for another minute. He searched again in vain for a way out, struggling to feel even the edge of the steel door.

Angry, shaking, Barba plunged a hand into the pocket of his coat di lui. The brightness of his phone screen hurt his eyes as it appeared, a painful white rectangle in the darkness.

It was eight minutes to midnight. He had absolutely zero signal. He pressed his teeth against the side of his tongue.

"There's no way to get out."

"Oh really? Pretty brilliant." Barba hissed as he pressed his fingers against the palm of his hand.

"Don't panic. In the morning someone will realize that we are missing and they'll come looking for us." Carisi said leaning his back against the door.

Barba didn't answer, he gritted his teeth and tried not to think about the not-so-small space in which he was forced to stay.

"Barba?" Carisi called "What's wrong?"

"It's your fault." Barba whispered in the dark, the raw sound echoing through the empty room.

Sonny's eyes snapped open. There was only blackness.

"Hang on," he said, "this is my fault? I thought he was turning himself because he cannot deal with his guilt!"

"Well, Detective Carisi, I hope you now realize that he fooled you."

"Christ. Black kettle, am I? Thanks, pot. Nice to know."

"And precisely what is that supposed to mean?"

"It means you're locked in here too, counselor. Myers fooled us both. Besides, you're supposedly to be the clever one here. How did you miss this?" Carisi's sarcastic tone made the shorter man's eyebrows snap up.

"I missed it," Barba said, now audibly angry, "because I was led to believe that you had a handle on the situation, Carisi. I was trusting in your authority."

Barba's pulse was speeding out of control already.

"Right," Carusi said, shaking "I told you to stay in the car. I told you. When you wouldn't see me come back, you would call someone and now we wouldn't be here!"

Barba was about to answer when he felt a shift in the air and the detective's figure moved in the darkness in his direction.

"Don't think you can shout at me, alright? I'm not a bloody babysitter. If you're here, it's your fault!"

There came no response from the darkness.

Sonny walked away and dropped his head back against the vault door with a thump. He shut his eyes, and told himself this was all an awful dream. He was still at home on his sofa, watching the footie with a can of cider and a microwave curry, and any second now he'd snap out of this.

This wasn't happening.

The universe wouldn't be so cruel.

-

An eternity seemed to pass before any sound disturbed the silence of the vault.

"I regret my tone, Carisi. I hadn't intended to speak harshly."

Carisi said nothing, staring up at a ceiling he couldn't see.

"Neither of us could have anticipated this eventuality," Barba added. Carisi could hear him attempting to make this gentlemanly and neat, and it was painful. "It was - ungracious of me to suggest as such. I apologise."

Carisi closed his eyes. Nothing changed.

"Don't choke on that, will you?" he muttered.

He heard Barba inhale "Very well."

Carisi bit his cheek, feeling a little guilt creep through his stomach by him. Be polite. Might make this easier somehow.

"Sorry," he said. "Don't mean to be - ... s'good of you to apologise."

Barba said nothing for a few moments. It was hard to imagine him there, sitting on the floor in his posh tailored coat and his black leather gloves.

"That's fine. I was not really trying hard."

Sonny's laughter eased the heavy atmosphere it had created.

"Look on the bright side, our corpses may be on their way to some unknown country" he paused "Somewhere they don't appreciate sarcasm." Carisi suggested.

Barba murmured a response coupled with a barely stifled laugh.

Sonny's stomach tightened. "S'pose we've got like what? nine or ten hours to guess how many years he'll be in prison for this ."

"Prison? I'll have his head for that."

Carisi laughed, but Barba was not joking.

The detective would take his time to make an inventory of what he was wearing, but besides his gun, his badge and his phone, he didn't have much else besides a small clutch of mints he'd half-forgotten about.

Supposing it would take up a few minutes, Carisi unwrapped one with a crinkle.

"Is - that noise you?"

"Hmm? Oh, yeah. Just a mint. You know the ones in restaurants, in the little packets ...?"

"I see." There was a pause. "The darkness is a little disorientating."

"Not sure the torch on my phone would last the night." Carisi said, quietly placing the mint in his mouth by him.

"I doubt it would."

"Save it in case we need it, maybe."

"Mm. Possibly wise."

Barba closed his eyes and hugged his torso with his arms. Christ. He should have stayed in the car.


	2. Whisperers

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Barba made a disgusted sound and Carisi chuckled "What is it?"
> 
> "It's ridiculous. If that man, the leader of the gang of disorganized homeless people with attention-seeking ..."
> 
> Carisi helped him "Negan."

What felt like three hours passed.

Carisi checked his phone, and discovered it had been forty-five minutes.

Miserably scrolling through his useless apps, he wondered what his teammates were doing that he had left in the pub. They were probably sleeping in their beds.

He had offered to drive Barba, who seemed to be having trouble finding an Uber, to his apartment. So they set off and then Carisi got a call from Myers: he must have had too much faith in mankind.

Certainly he hadn't thought that the man would not try to deceive him, but for a moment he had really believed that this would lead to something and now he was there, locked underground, with Barba among all the people.

The only question he kept asking himself was: what was the purpose of keeping them there? Barba had been unexpected, but what had Myers planned? Would he have killed him if Barba hadn't been there?

Maybe he should have been more careful. He should have warned Benson about the updates, he should have brought support with him that wasn't a 'civilian' who didn't want to be there. He could have done so many things.

It was a little easy to hate himself in hindsight, especially sealed together in the darkness like this.

With only his own thoughts for company, Carisi found himself sinking into them deeper and deeper. It distressed him that he should be in bed right now, warm and asleep, while instead he was here in the cold, revisiting all his regrets di lui in painful silence.

Distress wouldn't make the time pass any faster, though.

He forced himself to try thinking about his open cases di lui-supposing that if he couldn't be happy right now, he might as well be productive.

-

Time moved on, numb and featureless. Carisi resisted checking his phone as long as he could.

When he did, it was coming up to two in the morning.

Unable to bear the boredom any longer, he sighed and flicked on the torch. There wasn't much to look at in here, but it was better than staring pointlessly into the dark.

The sphere of light filled the vault just shy of its edges, throwing lurching shadows into every corner as Carisi got up. He wandered vaguely over to the antique furniture, wondering if there was anything to make this more comfortable. By the glow of his phone di lui, he finally got a glance at his cellmate for the night.

Barba was sitting against the right-hand wall, not straight-backed as Carisi had imagined him - but holding his head in both hands.

Sonny's pulse skipped a little at the sight.

"You alright?" he checked.

Barba didn't move. "Mm. Quite fine."

"You - don't look fine, counselour."

Barba inhaled, keeping his head exactly where it was. "Thank you, detective."

"Are you not good with confined spaces?"

"Merely uncomfortable."

Carisi could not remember even once when Barba had felt intimidated by something, seeing him slumped on the cold floor with his head in his trembling hands, it hit him more than he should have and he didn't like it.

He pushed his hands against the concrete to lift himself, took a first step forward, the sound of his shoes on the rough floor spreading through the otherwise silent room.

Barba's head snapped up sharply "Carisi?"

Carisi stopped "Can I come there?"

Barba inhaled and then nodded, his head falling into his hands as the detective narrowed the distance between them and dropped to his knees against the hard floor.

Thanks to the proximity, Carisi could notice the rocking of the body he was staring at. He wanted to reach out and place it on the other man's arm, but he was still Barba and he didn't know how he would take an attempt at comfort in an unfamiliar field, he just stayed nearby.

"Is your plan to stand there and stare at me?" his voice sounded muffled.

Carisi shook his head even though the other was not looking at him "Is there anything I can do?"

The movement stopped and Barba raised his head just enough for his eyes to fall on the kneeling man "What are you implying?"

God "You're scared."

"Who says i'm scared? Maybe you're just projecting, think about it."

A flash of anger crossed Carisi's mind, but he managed to recover a moment later "Then you won't mind if I go back to sit-"

"Stay" Barba was looking at him with wide eyes "You can seat here, if you like"

Carisi hastened to shut her mouth before he could be considered inappropriate, crawled to Barba's side and leaned back against the wall.

"You know it's just us here, right?"

"I'm not an idiot Carisi."

"And so why?"

"It's been some time since I was in a similar ... a-and I was glad to leave those days behind."

Sonny's forehead creased "Spent a lot of time breaking into vaults, did you?"

Rafael huffed, his eyes shutting again.

"I spent time in other darkened and sealed spaces against my will," he said.

Holy shit "What exactly do you mean with against your will ? "

Barba looked at him as if she was deciding what to do with her question about her "I- i can't-"

"It's okay if you don't want to tell me."

Barba said nothing, closed his eyes and returned with his head in his hands.

A few minutes passed before Carisi remembered something hidden in his pocket.

At the crinkling sound, Rafael opened one eye. He watched with pained, reluctant amusement as Carisi produced a mint imperial for him, unwrapped the silver foil and held it out.

"Good news," he said "Got a present for you."

Barba looked at the candy in his hand and then took the mint. The brief contact of their fingers was enough for Carisi to confirm he was shaking.

"My father" Barba's voice was low "My father, he - he was not a good person. He - we had a trunk" Carisi closed his eyes already imagining how the story would end "Sometimes he would get angry and say that he could not tolerate my sight and - I - I was small enough to fit in that trunk. "

"Jesus - you mean you -"

"I couldn't move and there was so little air" he paused to breathe "Sometimes I fainted and when I woke up I was still there, in the dark and not - I couldn't breathe. He said it was like I didn't exist and that made him stay better."

Sonny stood stiff as he listened to the muffled breaths the man next to him was taking "I - where is he now?"

"Dead."

"Good."

He heard an amused breath "Yes, yes ..."

"Should've told me," Carisi murmured, as Barba placed the white ball in his mouth. "I didn't realize."

Rafael inhaled, still not meeting Sonny's eyes. "Hardly something I share."

"Well, this is a weird situation, isn't it?"

"It really Is."

Barba removed his hands from his face and crossed them on his knees, placed a cheek on him, his gaze straight on Carisi.

The room was dark and Barba couldn't see much, but he could make out the detective's outlines and he was sure if he looked closely he would be able to see the blue in his eyes.

"Well - listen, we'll try and make this feel different. What can I do to make you comfortable?"

"V-Very little." Barba said looking Carisi hands moving in the air in strange shapes.

"Does light help?"

"Carisi, your phone battery won't -"

"No, but we can have it for a while to settle you. Not using it for anything else, am I?"

"Mh."

When the light illuminated the small space around them, Rafael could finally see something beyond the dense darkness that surrounded them.

"I think I'll tell you about the TVshow i'm watching ..." the detective announced.

"Will you?"

"Oh yeah. Get ready."

He said he with a small smile, then began to speak.

-

"I'll stop you right there. Why have I never heard of these 'whisperers'?"

Barba, who had patiently listened to every detail of this "gripping" show for an entire hour, frowned and tried to remember if the detective had said that name before her.

Carisi froze in his explanation "I wasn't sure you were listening."

"You're literally two steps away from me, of course I'm listening. Answer me."

"They just appeared in the show" Barba made a disgusted sound and Carisi chuckled "What is it?"

"It's ridiculous. If that man, the leader of the gang of disorganized homeless people with attention-seeking ..."

Carisi helped him "Negan."

Barba resumed "Negan. If Negan had, which I doubt, such an organized network. How many people who gut themselves and kill other people could go unnoticed?"

"Maybe they were just good."

Barba rolled his eyes "Or maybe the writer had one beer too many."

"Did you just criticize the best show of all time?" Carisi put a hand on his heart.

"You said it, not me."

"I don't know if i could ever forgive you for that. I was going to propose to you to watch The Walking Dead when we get out of here, but I don't think I'll do it anymore."

"I'll deal with it."

The silence lasted for a while before Barba spoke.

"Does it end like this?"

"What? no."

"Okay." Barba withdrew and turned his face in the opposite direction.

"Do you want me to tell you more?"

"If you have to."

Sonny smiled and started talking again. He could swear that he felt his heart would melt very quickly when Barba turned back in his direction and with his head tilted asked him "Where did they get this 'ship'?"

-

"Can't seem to find the time."

"Mh. It is difficult."

"Some weeks I never make it home before nine. Throw food down my throat and go to sleep."

"I confess this sounds familiar."

"Yeah?"

"Work has always been ... well, occupying. Gladly so. Somewhere along the line, I seem to have misplaced the skill of relaxing. Even when the time now presents itself, I inevitably find some work task to fill it."

"I know that one ..."

"I suppose when one lives alone ... well ..."

"Nobody there to remind you to switch off."

"Indeed."

Carisi pulled his coat tighter around his chest, breathing in the cold air. Barba's voice was strangely soft in the iet. It was nice to listen to.

"Did you have plans?"

"Only with myself. Catch the footie for once."

"Ah." Beard inhaled. "I'm sorry for your wasted evening, Sonny."

"Not your fault," Carisi said, quietly. He fastened another button on his coat di lei. He would pretend that the way Barba finally said his name didn't affect him "I'm not doing paperwork, at least."

-

"So, are you dating someone?"

Barba almost on him choked with his saliva "Excuse me?"

"No women in slinky dressess?"

Barba huffed in the darkness beside him "Not really my area."

The smile that Carisi was showing off dropped for a moment, aware of the meaning of that sentence and of the information that had just been shared.

"No handsome lawyer praying for your attention?"

Barba's laugh seemed to light up the vault for a moment.

"If there were," he remarked, "they escaped my notice."

As Carisi cast about in his head for a new subject, some tidy diversion onto another topic, Barba surprised him.

"Have you a partner at the moment?"

Polite.

Just polite interest. Don't even think it.

"Not right now," Sonny said, impressed by his own ability to sound normal.

"Nor handsome lawyer you want to persecute?"

So weird that he know Carisi go for both.

"Ha. No," he paused to change positions and stretch his legs "kinda thin on the ground these days," he said he, with a faint smile. "Think I might've had my lot."

Rafael hummed. "I'm quite certain that isn't true."

"Yeah?" Carisi said, trying to cover his racing heart with humor. "This is the first social event I've been to in months. And we're sealed in a vault, counselour."

"Admittedly a poor place to meet a partner, but ..."

"Vault speed dating ... instead of sixty seconds talking to someone about their boring day at work, you get locked in a sealed vault for nine hours."

"It would certainly test any fledgling courtship."

Sonny wished someone had told him that two years ago - told him it loudly, over and over until he listened. He pulled at the loose thread he'd found on his cuff di lui.

The quiet lingered a little.

"My mom says if you want to test a relationship," he offered, "you should put up a tent together."

Barba responded with surprise. "A tent?"

"Mm."

"Why on earth a tent?"

"If you can survive putting up a tent together, you can handle anything. All those fiddly parts. Tents and Ikea furniture - same thing."

Baeba chuckled quietly; Carisi's heart seemed to squirm at the sound.

"Sadly," he said, "I shall never experience either."

I'd build Ikea furniture with you around the clock, if you let me. I'd put up a thousand tents together. Rain and mud and no mallet.

Carisi morse his lip, pushing the thoughts aside.

"D'you reckon Myers could put up a tent?" he asked.

Barba who was holding the detective's phone in his hands to turn on the flashlight on the screen, raised an eyebrow and stopped all activity.

"You're weird."

Carisi shrugged "Maybe. So?"

Barba clicked on the cell phone screen and the light hit his face, quickly pointing it in another direction.

"Myers will be fashioned into a tent, when I've finished with him."

"Yeah?" Carisi reached into his pocket for another mint. "I'll help you put it up."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello everyone.  
> Yes, i'm a The Walking Dead fan and no, i will not regreat to talk about It, in this chap. Anyway, i hope you liked this chapter. PLEASE, let me know what you're thinking about this. Stay safe✨

**Author's Note:**

> Hello everyone,  
> I'm so much sleep deprived and so do my cellphone. I wrote this at 3 AM drinking a cup of tea *slurp*. Please let me know if you liked it or not. Have a good day and stay safe! ✨


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